Jasta85 wrote:But I'm still a bit angry that there's still no continuity between episodes, they're pretty much all separate episodes at this point, it doesn't feel like the fight for survival like the first ep made it out to be. Also, there's new characters every ep and then they don't show up again. They'll probably all meet again in some of the final eps but I wish there was a bit more character development till then.

They're animating all the side story chapters from the second volume. Basically, the first volume has the stuff of the first two episodes, then pretty much does a 1 and a half year timeskip (in which the side stories take place) and then talks about the rest.

Picked this up last night. I like the character of the day feeling to this. Reminds me of Pokemon, which I like as an anime plot formula.

Although I wouldn't mind if there was SOME overarching goal other than the 100 floors.

Spoiler :

Episode 1 was a good introduction. I feel like it explained the majority of the plot in the anime in one episode, so that we don't spend 5 episodes with "OMG WE CAN'T LOG OUT WAT IS THIS" and slowly unravel the plot. I hate anime that does that. >_>

Episode 2 was just SAD. It took them that long to clear one floor? JEESUS. I hope they moved the bodies of the people trapped and are feeding them or something, cuz they'll be in there for YEARS. Also, I loved how Kirito totally did the zero requiem from Code Geass. So that people wouldn't hate each other and the other testers, he created himself as an object of hatred. Shows a lot for his character. I liked it.

Episode 3 was just SAD. Wait, didn't I just say that? No, I knew that the poor girl would be dead before the episode's end. Although I don't play THAT many MMOs, can somebody confirm my thoughts that it was Kirito's fault that they died? I'm guessing the hidden room spawned enemies at the level of the party, and since Kirito was nearly double everyone else, that the monsters were ones that couldnt' be beaten easily. I loved the Christmas atmosphere at the end, and the setting/mood was just SPOT ON. Although I'm confused as to how Keita was able to take on the effing divine dragons. WTF.

Episode 4 really did a nice job of letting us in on the environment of the world. PKs and theives were something I would expect (although I'm saddened by it), and I loved how he helped the new character of teh day out. It was a really sweet episode, and NICE to finally get one with a happy ending. oh, and holy hell as his level and experience. Frontlining like a BAWSS.

Although I don't play THAT many MMOs, can somebody confirm my thoughts that it was Kirito's fault that they died? I'm guessing the hidden room spawned enemies at the level of the party, and since Kirito was nearly double everyone else, that the monsters were ones that couldnt' be beaten easily.

Spoiler :

I think that the reason why it was Kirito's fault was just that, since they saw him killing enemies with ease, they thought they'd be fine on the next floor by then, which wasn't the case here (Kirito was fine there because he was already at a higher level). So basically, due to Kirito hiding his level, they overestimated their own capabilities at their current level, thus the issue.

I laughed my ass off when all the guys were attacking Kirito and his health is barely even moving. "I'm level 78, noobs."

Exactly

This episode showed us that they do have choices to make everytime they level up.. leveling their abilities (track, detection, regenerationm, listening)I also like that green|orange|red system.. it's a nice feature.And Kirito was pretty badass

Spoiler :

You think I'm gonna waver over little bit of orange?! I'm solo player who's able to kick your asses

The gloomy character from the end of episode 3 was gone just like that, it's a shame that these extras don't have any kind of connection Can't wait for the main novel.It's interesting to watch how his coat changes with every episode but it's not too noticable therefore it still doesn't matter in amvs

Well, these episodes are good for setting the scene and making clear the mechanics of the game.

Spoiler :

Most likely the main story includes some yellow and red guys so it would be good to appease the fan base by showing a popular arc if the manga. It's easier than bullcrapping their own episode to explain it and it's safer.

finally, ep 5 looks like it will actually have a plot that will be continued in the following ep, although why the heck did they have that short scene in the beginning of the ep and then suddenly fast forward a month and continue without mentioning it again. I wanted to see a cool boss fight in a village where a huge monster goes rampaging around while a large part tries to take it down (and I really don't get why he doesn't want NPC's to die, would he rather they sacrifice some players instead?)

Anyway, nice to see some old characters showing up again, and this current plot is somewhat interesting. I just wish the series as a whole was a little more focused on them actually advancing floors to win the game, rather than all these little side adventures.

PKs are a common think in these type of MMO anime, so it's nice to see them get a focus. Plus, this would be a really big deal to their world. A new way to murder people in-game would cause quite a bit of problems. Especially if a huge high level group could get together and utilize it to get amazing items.

Although Yoruko was WAY too nuts about all of this, especially that line about just doing what Griselda wanting. I don't trust her. >:| Then again, she's all dead so it's not really a problem now, although she may have done something pre-death to make all this happen.

Also, was it just me, or did Yoruko die REALLY quickly? The first guy took at least a few minutes, she died in seconds! Fall damage maybe?

I like the fact that she has this serious feel to her, I think it suits her and it's a good follow up to what she was in episode 2. Lying under the three scene was awesome.I'm really glad that it seems that we're finally at a point in time where it won't be skipping floors every 5 minutes. In other words, welcome the main story!This PK thing is really cool. I think it's as Kirito said due to some kind of rare item that allows you to beat the crap out of people even in safe zones. Or it could be bug but I don't see that happening.I also liked the part where Kirito pointed out that SAO is pretty much fair.. since yeah, it basically is.

Yoruko did die way to fast, don't know about the falling part, but a single dagger thrown at someone in an MMO is not going to do much damage, and usually when players take damage their HP bar just goes down a bit. To get hit by just a single attack that either kills you or completely disables you means it would have to be really high level. But I figured the anime was blurring what might actually happen in a game vrs what would happen in real life.